Jim Brooks remembered for quirks and character

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By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - When Jim Brooks noticed that the street outside his home on Glendale Road was frequently littered with trash that had blown out of trucks hauling garbage to the landfill, he petitioned city councilors to pass an ordinance requiring all loads to be covered. To prove the point, he went to a meeting with a garbage bag filled with trash he recovered from the road, spoke briefly - and dumped its contents onto the council chamber floor.

The in-your-face act was one of many during Brooks' life in Northampton, which included a nine-year tenure as Ward 6 city councilor. And although many who served with him will remember him as a "gadfly," most say he was deeply committed to the causes he believed in and was willing to take unusual measures to ensure that the voices of the residents he represented were heard.

When Brooks, 94, died at the Calvin Coolidge Nursing Home on April 13, former Mayor David Musante said Northampton lost a one-of-a-kind character who spent much of his free time advocating for local causes.

Musante, who served as mayor from 1979 to 1991, said he and Brooks remained good friends even though they didn't always share the same stance on the issues presented to City Council.

"He was a good guy and he really represented the people of Ward 6 to the nth degree," Musante said. "He worked full-time plus as a city councilor; he was a little quirky for sure, but he was also an extremely hard working guy."

Among Musante's favorite memories of Brooks was the time when he was on a crusade to slow down drivers who were speeding on Ryan Road. One day when he was traveling on the road, Musante said he spotted Brooks standing on the sidewalk, aiming a hair dryer at motorists, apparently hoping that they would mistake it for a radar gun.

"Believe it or not, it really had an effect, and people did actually slow down because of it," Musante said. When remembering Brooks, longtime Ward 7 city councilor Raymond LaBarge referred to him as a "joker," who was "sincere with every damn thing he did."

"He was a great guy, and he was very hardworking," LaBarge said. "A lot of people used to laugh at him because he would do strange things, but when he believed in something he was very committed."

Wayne Feiden, the city's director of planning and development, said he frequently worked with Brooks, or "Brooksie" as he called him, when he was the city's environmental planner. Feiden said when he thinks of Brooks, he will always picture him picketing outside a newly opened car dealership on the corner of King Street and Bridge Road, because Brooks disagreed with drainage on the development.

"He was very passionate," Feiden said. "He stood outside that dealership with a sign every day for months waving at motorists."

Northampton resident Susan Adelson frequently saw him around town and followed his career as a councilor closely. She said she will always remember him for his devotion to the city of Northampton and the people who live here.

"He was an omnipresent fixture in Northampton. There was no reason for him to know me or to talk to me, but I knew him because he was always out around town," Adelson said. "He was very polite. He would always say hello and would talk to me for as long as it took - he was never in a hurry to get anywhere."

"He spoke so fondly of his wife and how long they were married," Adelson added. "I'm not sure why he would tell me about it, but it showed me that it was possible to have a good, long, loving marriage."

Over the course of his life, Brooks worked at the Pro Brush Co., in Northampton, as a herdsman on the Robin Farm in Belchertown where he lived with his wife, Elizabeth Symancyk, and as a machinist at Osley and Whitney Inc. in Westfield. According to his obituary, in his spare time he enjoyed swimming, hiking on Mount Tom, bird-watching and riding horses.

He was the 4-H leader in the West Farms section of Northampton, delivered food for Meals on Wheels, volunteered to restore and maintain Trinity Lutheran Church in Easthampton and devoted his time to the VNA and Hospice at Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

His obituary also revealed that Brooks willed his remains to Harvard Medical School. A memorial service will be held May 16 at 2 p.m. at the Ahearn Funeral Home, 783 Bridge Road in Northampton.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.